"Lean In" author and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg speaks to a group of young women students at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, Calif., on June 7. / Martin E. Klimek, USA TODAY

by Jon Swartz and Gary Strauss , USA TODAY

by Jon Swartz and Gary Strauss , USA TODAY

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was supposed to be aboard the Asiana Airlines flight that crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday morning.

Sandberg and other execs at the social media giant escaped potential disaster when they switched to a United flight returning from a Korean business trip. Two passengers were reported dead and 181 injured when the Boeing 777 landed short of a runway at about 11:27 a.m. PT.

"I was on another flight from Korea at the exact same time,'' she said in an email to USA TODAY's Jon Swartz. "We are ok. My friend on that flight is ok, too."

Sandberg, a billionaire and author of the recently released best seller Lean In, took another flight flight from Seoul to cash in air miles tickets for family members. She said the United flight landed 20 minutes before the Asiana crashed.

"Thanks you to everyone who is reaching out - and sorry if we worried anyone,'' she tweeted.

Samsung executive David Eun, who was on crashed flight, was among the first to tweet and send photos of the heavily damaged Boeing 777.

Eun, shared information about fellow passengers and photos from the crash site, gaining thousands of new Twitter followers as he posted updates.

Late Saturday afternoon, Eun tweeted; "Just went through customs. Adrenaline rush is subsiding. Just trying to process all this. Really glad that most everyone I saw seemed ok, with just a few minor injuries. Thinking a lot about family and friends right now..."